Sportsnet's Joe Siddall shines as clear heir apparent to Buck Martinez on Blue Jays broadcasts

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It was early days in his broadcasting career when Sportsnet’s Joe Siddall was getting a cameo in the television booth and quickly learned how Buck Martinez, his partner that day, was much more than just a smooth voice and a revered Blue Jays personality.

And the lessons learned that day resonated to the point that it provided Siddall one of his biggest leaps forward in his own broadcasting career.

“Buck and I were taping an intro and 10 or 20 seconds in I butchered it and it was ‘OK, Take 2,'” Siddall recalled of that day in the Rogers Centre TV booth where he was moved up from the radio booth as a fill-in for Pat Tabler. “Then 20 seconds into the next one, I butchered that one as well and it was on to Take 3.

“Finally, Buck just looked at me and said ‘Put your (bleeping) paper down, look in that camera and pretend you’re talking to your son about baseball.’

“The light bulb went on and it just freed me up. It was early on but to this day I say it was a turning point for me.”

Siddall hasn’t looked back since, developing into one of the most trusted and versatile voices on Sportsnet’s Blue Jays telecasts.

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He also has emerged as the heir apparent to Martinez, whenever the day comes that Buck stops talking baseball for a Canada-wide TV audience.

To be clear, Martinez has no plans to go anywhere even though he has been absent for the past 22 games for what he described as regular time off in his reduced schedule. The 76-year-old is set to return to the Sportsnet airwaves next Monday when the New York Yankees visit the Rogers Centre for a four-game series.

For the third year now, Siddall has been the steady backup to Martinez after the latter trimmed his workload to 100 games a season. The resulting reconfiguration Siddall shuffling from the Blue Jays Central studio to the game broadcast booth for a near-even split of the 130 contracted games he works each season.

The Windsor native and former catcher (like all Jays analysts, it seems) has quietly become an important voice to the team’s coverage. His in-depth breakdowns — and honest, transparent criticism when warranted — shines through in his studio segments. And that insight has travelled nicely to the booth.

Siddall appreciates both roles, but clearly thrives on the immediacy of game analysis.

“What I like about doing both is the variety,” Siddall said prior to a game in the Jays recently completed homestand. “That mix is great. But what I love about the booth is that it’s almost like you’re back in the game again. You’re going pitch to pitch, thinking along with the pitcher and catcher, what the infield is doing, how the outfield is playing. It’s in the moment more. It’s that little fix to make up for not playing any more.

“I like the mix, but I know when I go to the booth I know I love it.”

It’s clear that Martinez won’t be a fixture in the booth forever — although the former Jays catcher, manager and long-time broadcaster is still energized by his career and loves what he does. Having Siddall quietly and confidently climbing from radio, to studio, to insightful game analysis sure shapes up as an ideal succession plan, however.

“I’m forever grateful for the guys I’ve had the chance to work with,” Siddall said. “When I first started on radio, Jerry Howarth was a mentor. I wasn’t a broadcaster and I came into the business working alongside what I would consider the best in the business. I was very fortunate for his guidance and his hints on when to come in and when to get out. It was fantastic.

“Filling in for (Pat Tabler) I was working with Buck, which was great, and then starting to do (TV game work) more full time and I’m with Dan Shulman? Come on. I’ve been very fortunate as someone who had zero broadcasting experience to work with guys like that, some of the best in the business.”

THE BLUE JAYS SHUFFLE

In part due to Martinez’s extended break this month, viewers have seen a revolving cast on Blue Jays telecasts. With Dan Shulman on vacation the past couple of weeks, his son Ben slid over from the radio booth to fill in working alongside both Siddall and Caleb Joseph.

With the Jays on the road to Cleveland and Boston this week, Dan Shulman returns with Siddall at his side. The regular top crew of the elder Shulman and Martinez are scheduled to be reunited after an absence of almost 30 days when the Bronx Bombers arrive in town next Monday.

AROUND THE DIAL

The latest punch for the sports media biz hit The Score late last week with dozens of editorial workers unceremoniously let go on the digital side by the once-proud website and leading sports app. Without all the details, it’s still not difficult to surmise that owners Penn National were feeling the pinch of the competitive sports betting landscape in Canada. The Score’s primary business, of course, is the ScoreBet … Speaking of Ben Shulman, the more work he gets filling in for his father, the more comfortable he sounds on the TV airwaves. Of course those who have listened to him on radio the past two seasons are well aware of his impressive progress.